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Oh god, last night. Last night everything was perfect. Last night she'd had a future with the man she loved.
"…and now you're gone."
She tilted her head back, her tears burning her cheeks. It felt like someone had reached in and was ripping her heart right out of her chest. She couldn't breathe because of the pain, couldn't think. All she could do was blink at the flames with a vacant, glassy-eyed stare.
"I love you," she whispered again. "I love you so much, and I don't know what I'm going to do without you."
She felt like she’d shattered into a million pieces. She didn't know how to keep going, how to keep breathing. Her thoughts were a mess. She couldn’t believe he was gone. That he’d sacrificed himself for her… She couldn’t— didn’t want to believe she’d never see him again.
"It's not fair!" she bellowed in rage, her voice echoing across the beach. "It's not fair that you left me like this! You can't just leave me!"
Shaking with rage, she grabbed handfuls of sand and threw them toward the ship. "It would serve you right if I brought you back just so I could kill you myself!"
* * *
Vaarn emerged from the lake, water cascading from his burned leathers and battered skin. With each step he felt like he lifted a ton of weight, his muscles screaming at the abuse he'd put them through. Chuckling, he unbuckled his drop harness and let it fall as he strode forward. His gaze was locked onto his mate, relief at finding her alive and well washing through him with the force of a tidal wave.
"Humans are so confusing," he said, his lips quirking up at the corners. "You love me, but you also want to kill me?"
Sadie whirled around, almost falling over in the sand, shock written on her beautiful features. She blinked, her eyes full of tears, and then screamed. The sound echoed through the trees surrounding the lake, sending the local avians into flight. His heart swelled as she launched herself into his arms, her petite form colliding with his chest.
He caught her easily, wrapping his arms around her waist as he stumbled back a step at her momentum. The surf surged around them, almost taking him off his feet. He spread them for balance, and held onto the precious bundle in his arms.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, nails biting into the skin of his shoulders as she held on for dear life. He felt the fine trembles that ran through her body. Tightening his grip on her, he pulled her closer to whisper in her ear, "I'm here, kelarris. I'm here."
She buried her face in the side of his neck, hot tears wet against his skin. He murmured soothing nonsense, stroking his hand down her back.
Her fingers tightened in his wet hair, and she yanked him closer to crash her lips against his with a fierceness that left him reeling. Heat rolled through his veins at the demand of her lips, and he tightened his arms around her with a low growl.
"I love you," she gasped between kisses. "But you're an asshole, Vaarn T'Kaan."
He smiled against her mouth, a deep rumble of laughter vibrating in his chest. The way she could say that and insult him in the same breath would have been confusing to anyone else, but he thought he understood human emotion… her emotions… well enough now to pick up the important part of her words.
She loved him.
Cupping her face in one hand, he used his thumb to brush away the tears on her cheeks.
"And I love you, Sadie Jane Keare," he leaned down to claim her lips. A shudder rolled through him at the sweet taste of her mouth, and the press of her delicate little body against his larger, harder frame. He held on all the tighter at the realization that he could have lost her, lost everything. If he had, he had no doubt that he would just become a shell of a warrior. Empty to the end of his days.
He didn't fear his own death. He'd faced it before, all Latharian warriors had, usually before they'd left youth behind. Death was an old friend and adversary who was never far from a warrior's side. But this time was different. This time, he would have welcomed it if it meant Sadie could live.
But, draanth, he was glad he'd survived, if only for a few moments to hold her in his arms again.
She pulled away to look into his face, and he saw the hurt in her eyes. "Why did you do it?" she asked, her bottom lip trembling in a way that made his heart ache. "Why didn't you come with me? There was enough room for both of us in the pod."
"The pod... the ship... both were damaged," he admitted, still stroking his thumb over her cheek. "I wasn't certain either of us would make it. But the odds for the pod surviving to reach the ground in one piece were better if I stayed behind and used the ship’s weapons to clear a path."
She stilled in his arms, searching his gaze. He watched the fascinating display of emotions crossing her face as she processed his words. Then realization filled her eyes.
"You... you put me in that pod knowing you were going to die?" Her voice wavered.
He nodded, expecting her tears. What he didn't expect was for her to wind her arm and smack him in the shoulder hard enough to make him wince. What the draanth? Humans weren't supposed to be that strong.
"You fucking idiot!" Her voice cracked with emotion as she unleashed a string of curses at him, most of them too quick and unintelligible, each punctuated by another punch to his shoulder. Fortunately, the first blow was the hardest. Before long she ran out of steam, her hands clinging to him, clutching his shoulders instead of hitting him.
He bit back his smile as he figured it out. She wasn't angry with him, or rather she was… but the anger was driven by the fear of losing him, driven by the depth of her love for him. Warmth spread out from the center of his chest, soothing like the suns of Lathar Prime on a summer morning.
Another wave came, and this time it nearly knocked them over. He tightened his arm around her waist, holding her close as he waded for the shore. Once they were out of the water, he set her down gently onto the sand.
